Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the organism is capable of survival. The goal of species reintroduction is to establish a healthy, genetically diverse, self-sustaining population to an area where it has been extirpated, or to augment an existing population. Species that may be eligible for reintroduction are typically threatened or endangered in the wild. However, reintroduction of a species can also be for pest control; for example, wolves being reintroduced to a wild area to curb an overpopulation of deer. Because reintroduction may involve returning native species to localities where they had been extirpated, some prefer the term "reestablishment".
The yellow-eyed penguin, known also as hoiho, is a species of penguin endemic to New Zealand. It is the sole extant species in the genus Megadyptes.
Captive breeding, also known as captive propagation, is the process of keeping plants or animals in controlled environments, such as wildlife reserves, zoos, botanic gardens, and other conservation facilities. It is sometimes employed to help species that are being threatened by the effects of human activities such as climate change, habitat loss, fragmentation, overhunting or fishing, pollution, predation, disease, and parasitism.
The Arabian leopard is the smallest leopard subspecies. It was described in 1830 and is native to the Arabian Peninsula, where it was widely distributed in rugged hilly and montane terrain until the late 1970s. Today, the population is severely fragmented and thought to decline continuously. In 2008, an estimated 45–200 individuals in three isolated subpopulations were restricted to western Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen. However, as of 2023, it is estimated that 100–120 in total remain, with 70-84 mature individuals, in Oman and Yemen, and it is possibly extinct in Saudi Arabia. The current population trend is suspected to be decreasing.
The Asian houbara, also known as MacQueen's bustard, is a large bird in the bustard family. It is native to the desert and steppe regions of Asia, west from the Sinai Peninsula extending across Iran and further north toward Kazakhstan and Mongolia. In the 19th century, vagrants were found as far west of their range as Great Britain. Populations have decreased by 20 to 50% between 1984 and 2004 mainly due to hunting and changes in land-use. The Asian houbara is a partial latitudinal migrant while the African houbara is more sedentary. Both species are the only members of the genus Chlamydotis. The Asian houbara used to be regarded as a subspecies of the African houbara.
Jiddat al-Harasis (Jiddat-il-Harasiis) is a stony desert in south-central Oman, separating northern Oman from Dhufar. The largest strewn field of meteorites in the country is situated here. Over 160 bird species, including the endangered houbara bustard, are found here, as well as Arabian oryx and Arabian gazelle. The area was not permanently inhabited until the 19th century with the arrival of the Harasis.
The wildlife of Saudi Arabia is substantial and varied. Saudi Arabia is a very large country forming the biggest part of the Arabian Peninsula. It has several geographic regions, each with a diversity of plants and animals adapted to their own particular habitats. The country has several extensive mountain ranges, deserts, highlands, steppes, hills, wadis, volcanic areas, lakes and over 1300 islands. The Saudi Arabian coastline has a combined length of 2,640 km (1,640 mi) and consists of the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea to the west while a shorter eastern coastline can be found along the Persian Gulf.
The wildlife of Oman is the flora and fauna of this country in the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, with coasts on the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The climate is hot and dry, apart from the southeastern coast, and the country offers a variety of habitats for wildlife including mountains, valleys, deserts, coastal plains and sea coasts.
Alison Marion Cree is a New Zealand herpetologist. She is currently a professor at the University of Otago.
Alison Ruth Mercer is a New Zealand zoologist based at the University of Otago, with a particular interest in the brain physiology of bees. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2022.
Marion Frances Robinson was a New Zealand nutritionist and physiologist. She was professor of nutrition at the University of Otago, and is particularly noted for her investigation of the importance of selenium in the human diet.
Ann Philippa Wylie is a New Zealand botanist, and was an associate professor at the University of Otago before her retirement in 1987.
Marion Liddell Fyfe was a New Zealand academic, specialising in taxonomy of planarians and other flatworms, the first woman zoology lecturer at the University of Otago, and the first woman to be elected to the Council of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Neil John Gemmell, is a New Zealand geneticist. His research areas cover evolutionary genetics and genomics, molecular ecology, and conservation biology. Originally from Lower Hutt, he obtained his PhD at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. Since 2008, Gemmell has been a professor at the University of Otago and since 2019 holds one of their seven Sesquicentennial Distinguished Chairs. Significant work includes the search of the Loch Ness Monster (2018) and the sequencing of the tuatara genome. In 2020, Gemmell received the Hutton Medal by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Rhiannon Braund is a New Zealand academic and registered pharmacist. She is a professor in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine at the University of Otago.
Debra Lynn Waters is a New Zealand exercise physiologist and medical researcher in the field of health ageing, director of Gerontology Research and professor at the University of Otago.
Riyadh Zoo, formerly Riyadh Zoological Gardens and locally as Malaz Zoo, is a 55-acre zoo in the al-Malazz neighborhood of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Founded in 1957 as a private menagerie for King Saud bin Abdulalziz and the Saudi royal family, the zoo was opened to the public in 1987 and it's today home to more than 1,500 animals of around 196 different species, including endangered ones. It is the largest and one of the oldest zoos in Saudi Arabia.
George Ian Town is a New Zealand respiratory scientist and health official. He was appointed the Chief Science Advisor to the New Zealand Ministry of Health in 2019.
Michelle Kelly, also known as Michelle Kelly-Borges, is a New Zealand scientist who specialises in sponges, their chemistry, their evolution, taxonomy, systematics, and ecology.
Tania Gaye Cassidy is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in sports pedagogy, especially that of sports coaching.
